Those of you who've taken leopard in Zim either in low light or using artificial red light, is subject reticle advantegeous or can I just get by with my 1.75X6X42 SWAROVSKI? jorge

Jorge,

I find the illuminated reticle on my Kahles 1.5X6X42 to be an adavntage in the leopard blind. It allows you target acquisition much faster that without in my opinion. Having said that I looked at leopard with the reticle turned off when the light was on and got the crosshairs on the chest with no problem.

BigB

I would NOT go leopard hunting without a lite reticle. Your pay lots of money to to be there spend a few more dollars. Much better safe than sorry. It cost me a leopard in 05 not having one.

jeffh: what kind of scope where you using, type of reticle, distance & type of light used? thanks, jorge

quote:

Originally posted by jorge:
Those of you who've taken leopard in Zim either in low light or using artificial red light, is subject reticle advantegeous or can I just get by with my 1.75X6X42 SWAROVSKI? jorge

The above situation is one draw back to the use of a lighted retical that uses a "RED" protion of the reticle! When looking thorough the scope while useing a red spoting light on the target, the red portion sometimes disappear. This is one reason for the amber lighted tip of the post in a Trijicon scopes. They have a choice of red, or amber. IMO, the red is better against most backgrounds, unless you are useing a red spotting light! I assume the Amber illumination would be lost on the hide of a lion in daylight, but would stand out on most other colors like cape buffalo.

The best thing about the Trijicon scopes are the two choices of color illumination, and the fact that they do not depend on batteries. With adjustable intencity of the fiber-optics in addtion to the tritium lamp, that takes over automaticlly, after the sun goes down. The 3-9X40 would be my choice for Leopard, but they offer a 1.25-4X24, and a 2.5-10X56 as well! Now they also have a choice of reticles that should be more suitable to most hunters!

jeffh: what kind of scope where you using, type of reticle, distance & type of light used? thanks, jorge[/QUOTE]
Jorge, I used a Leopold, I would have to get into the safe to tell you exactly which one. I mean truth be told no matter what country your in you may be hunting with a light. I have never been in a leopard blind with a ph that did not have a light and was ready to use if if necessary. You may have far more time in a blind than me (45 days)
but I find it impossible to see those black cross hairs in low light or after dark 30
My scope has the red cross hair and you can turn it off and on which is what I like. Never tried the Trijicon, makes sence what MacD37 posted.
Ph said shoot even though I told him I could not see X 60 yards. lost him, bad shot high back.
killed one at 26 yards this year


\

Shot chui with my Leupoold VXIII with a German #4 illuminated in a 30mm tube 3.5/10x 50mm obj lens...On off switch is a 360 degrees either way turn with 11 power settings... It has been the fastest acquiring optic configuration I have ever used...
Your eye is drawn to the red dot...

The closest my wife got a to leopard coat...


Mike

Nice Cat Mike! BTW, we'll be up in PA the week of 21-29 July. Another good friend of mine's coming up for a day. Wana come up for an afternoon, shoot some big bores? let me know. jorge

Ok, back to business. I'm sitting in my back yard at 20:58 EST. It's pretty dark. I have two scopes side by side, a Swarovski PH 1.75X6X42 and a leupold VXIII 3.5X10X50 ill reticle. The red dot definitively helps the Leupie, but the Swaro can pick out my "spotted deer". Both set to 6X, the Swaro's the clearer scope. Still experimenting...jorge

If you want an illuminated reticle for low light work, make sure you get one which can be adjusted to absolutely MINIMAL illumination!! The illuminated reticle is only there to help you recover the reticle lost with diminishing light. If the IR emits too much light, it will overpower your target.

A lot of companies who don't have a tradition of or understand low light hunting think that if a bit of illumination is good, more will be better. Nothing could be further from the truth. The illumination which might help you in broad daylight (on running game, say) could seriously impede your ability to see your target in low light. So ability to illuminate minimally is paramount for low light use!

It is also an advantage to be able to pre-set your illumination level, so you don't have to fiddle when your prey actually shows up.

- mike

Mike: The Leupold also has that rheostat feature.Excellent scope for the money. jorge

After sitting in a Leopard Blind...many nights...I'd vote for the Trijicon scope. In fact, I ordered one for the
"next time" I'll hunt Leopard at twilight & dark...
I don't think there is a better choice, imho.

Tom from Cody...

jorge: I have two Leupold VXIII's with illuminated recticles. One like yours as mentioned and another in 1.5X5. Both are 30mm tubes. I like them both, although I shot my leopard in Zim last year at night over bait without an illuminated recticle, and it was dead before it hit the ground. That said, I would not hunt leopard again without one, as you can either choose to use it or not. And as you know, on the Leupolds you can adjust the illuminated recticle's brightness. And the prices and quality on the Leupolds are just right for me. Just my two cents worth.

UEG: I like Leupies myself, I just don't care for that huge 50mm lens. I tried the 1.5X5 also with the ill reticle and it just didn't transmit enough light for me at 5X. The 3.5X10X50 works great though and a bargain compare to almost 2 grand for the ill swaro.

jorge,

In actual use on leopard in low light, I have found that the 1.25-4x20 mm Schmidt & Bender variable with an illuminated A7 Flash Dot reticle was far superior to a 2.5-10x56 mm Schmidt & Bender Zenith variable with a standard, non-illuminated A4 reticle.

Both scopes have excellent glass and 30 mm main tubes. But the huge objective lens diameter advantage of the big Zenith was as nothing when compared with the Flash Dot feature on the much smaller scope.

IMHO, for leopard hunting in twilight, whether it be pre-dawn or dusk, an illuminated reticle is essential and I would not be without one.

Thanks, MR. I'll keep playing with them. Right now I have the Swaro on the rifle. The 1.5X5X20 leupie was a disappointment even with the ill reticle, but the 3.5X10X50 was great. I just hate that huge 50mm lens, but jeez, the price on an ill reticle euro, OUCH! jorge

I shot my leopard at dusk with the same magnification scope you have only by Zeiss. I had plenty of light but my PH was a stickler about bait placement so the cat would be skylined. Since we were not using lights my PH needed to identify the cat with his binoculars before you could shoot. He insisted on shooting mature males. My plex type reticle worked fine and we successfully shot a 165 pound male. I experimented a lot before the hunt and 4 power seemed brightest at about 40 yards. Save your money! You have an excellent scope now.

done it with both. i prefer the illuminated dot, but there's no reason whatsoever not to use your swaro. some of which depends on where you're hunting. if you're in someplace like the loveld in zim where you hunt at night, then i think the ill. will be much better, otherwise its a tossup

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/sta...cat601566&hasJS=true

Jorge,

I've not hunted Leopard, but just as a suggestion, you might try a VX-L. If the 50mm puts the scope too high for you, the VX-L should be perfect. I've got one on my 300 Wby. and it works great. Great low light visibility and it's mounted in Leupy QD low rings. They make the 50mm in 3.5-10x50 Ill. B&C or you can get something special from the custom shop.

When it comes down to it, it really doesn't matter what the rifle (or scope) looks like, as long as it works.

David

P.S. I'm using 3.5-10x50 with Duplex reticle. Like it a lot for this rifle and it's uses. It'll be going across the pond next summer.

Have a Leupold 1.5-5 Ill Ret on my loan rifle- Works well on lion. (I don't do leopard any more). Used a top of the line Nikkon 1.5-6 x 42 before. Prefer the Leupold.

quote:

Originally posted by Ganyana:
Have a Leupold 1.5-5 Ill Ret on my loan rifle- Works well on lion.

I used one of these on a leopard, lion and 2 hyena, all at low light. It worked very well, including on the same gun used during the hunt for buffalo and other game.

Added: Light gathering seemed okay, by the time I could not see thru the scope it was past shooting light. My 10x bino's were a bit brighter but not much, maybe a few minutes. This was a few years ago, and if strictly for leopard, perhaps something like the Kahles 1.5-6x42 or the Trijicon's would be better....

theme here seems to be:
USE LITE SCOPE
LOTS OF GOOD ONES

Ganyana: I ahd a Leupold VXIII 1.5X5X20 with the 30mm tube and an illuminated reticle. I took it and sat a few nights on my friends deer & hog preserve in South Carolina. The 20mm objective gave me very poor results in low light so I bought the 3.5X10X50 ill reticle and the difference was remarkable. Same for the Swaro 1.75X6X42. That one was the brightest, but the bigger leupold's 50mm lens, the ill reticle and the 10X magnification put it on an even keel with the lower magnification Swaro. Hunting with John Sharp, he uses a reddish light that does not interfere with the Leupold's ill reticle. Anyhow, it's been a fun exercise...jorge